IMAX Corporation and Indomina Releasing announced that FLYING SWORDS OF DRAGON GATE will be released in the immersive IMAX® 3D format for an exclusive one-week engagement in 15 IMAX® theatres in select North American markets beginning today, Aug. 31, 2012. The release follows the success of the film in Mainland China and marks the first foreign language film to debut in IMAX in North America. Check out the trailer below!

Written, directed and produced by legendary Hong Kong filmmaker Tsui Hark (Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame), the film stars Jet Li, Zhou Xun, Chen Kun, Li Yuchun, Gwei Lun Mei, Mavis Fan and Fan Siu Wong. The film is set to open in theaters in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, Washington D.C., Houston, Seattle and San Diego.

“Indomina is thrilled to have joined forces with IMAX to premiere Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate theatrically in IMAX 3D,” said Indomina’s SVP of Distribution and Marketing, Bruce Kirkland. “The film incorporates state-of-the-art 3D technology and blockbuster production. Seeing it in IMAX is an overwhelming and exciting experience and we can’t wait to bring it to audiences across North America.”

“We are excited to offer our fans in North America the opportunity to experience this martial-arts action blockbuster in IMAX — a format that captures the visually inventive storytelling tradition of wuxia,” said Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. “Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate furthers our ongoing commitment to showcase the best in locally-produced Chinese films.”

Since the film’s December 2011 release in China, Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate has earned approximately $86.5 million at the box office, of which approximately $10.6 million was generated in 61 digital IMAX® theatres across China. The film set a new record for a Chinese-produced movie released in the IMAX format and became the fourth-highest grossing IMAX DMR® title in China behind Avatar, Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Titanic 3D. The film also won five awards at the 31st Hong Kong Film Awards held on April 15, including Best Action Choreography, Art Direction, Editing, Visual Effects and Sound Effects.

Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate: An IMAX 3D Experience has been digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience® with proprietary IMAX DMR® (Digital Re-mastering) technology for presentation in IMAX 3D. The crystal-clear images, coupled with IMAX’s customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio, create a unique immersive environment that makes audiences feel as if they are in the movie.

About Flying Swords Of Dragon GateFlying Swords Of Dragon Gate picks up the Dragon Gate Inn story three years after the disappearance of the enigmatic innkeeper Jade and the massive fire that consumed the Inn. A new Dragon Inn has risen from the ashes, staffed by a band of marauders. Masquerading as law-abiding citizens by day, they use the cover of night to continue their true calling as fortune hunters. For legend says that the Dragon Inn is the site of a lost city buried in the desert – and a treasure that spans dynasties hidden deep within.

As they await a storm strong enough to unearth the hidden fortress, they are surprised by the arrival of a pregnant concubine and her mysterious protector, Ling. They have come seeking the sanctuary of the Inn – as two factions from the Imperial City close in on them to claim her unborn child. Tsui Hark delivers a whole new level of wonder – a tale that respects the storytelling of wuxia while using state-of-the-art tools to create a spectacle unlike any that has been seen before.